Deliver Us From Evil (A. Shaw 2)

Dominic looked over at Whit, who was still staring at Reggie. “So this is all tied to the mission?” Whit asked.

“It’s always been tied to the mission, Whit. Everything I do in my bloody life has been tied to the mission. If you’d get your brains out of your crotch you might be able to see that. Or did I misinterpret your last remark back at Harrowsfield? What was it again?”

“A glimpse of thigh and a pretty face, more or less,” said Whit with a smirk.

“What are you two talking about?” demanded Dominic as he stared between them.

“Nothing, Dom,” she said.

“Are you two having an affair?” Dominic persisted.

Whit laughed. “Not for lack of trying, at least on my part, but Sister Reggie here’s having nothing to do with it.” The smile quickly faded from his lips. “Okay, Reg, what you just said makes sense. Jealousy.”

“Jealousy,” she repeated, staring him down. “It works with most men.”

Whit looked away. “I’m hungry. You want anything?”

“No, but I do have a request.”

He sat up, looking interested. “Shoot.”

“I need some new equipment.”

Dominic looked at her warily. “What sort of equipment?”

“Stuff that’ll project pictures on a wall. Can you get it?”

“I don’t see why not,” said Dom. “There are big electronics stores in Avignon.”

“Then get it, as fast as you can.”

Whit looked confused. “What do you have in mind?”

She rose. “You’ll see.”

When she got back to her villa, Fedir Kuchin was standing in the middle of the narrow road, his arms open wide in welcome to her.

She wanted to place a bullet between his eyes. Instead she sighed, forced another smile, and climbed out of her car.

CHAPTER

42

SHAW CLOSED the door behind him and said angrily, “What the hell are you doing here, Frank? There’s no face-to-face during an op, you know that.”

Frank Wells remained sitting in the chair, his face looking slightly pinched. “You went out to Les Baux-de-Provence today.”

“I know I did,” snapped Shaw. “So?”

“Why’d you do that?”

“Because Waller had invited Janie to go with him on his private tour, and I couldn’t let that happen.” He held up a hand when Frank looked ready to say something. “It has nothing to do with her personally. It would’ve just been a logistical headache to have her in the way when we do the extraction.”

“Yeah, well, I got bad news on that. It’s why I’m here. Didn’t want to tell you over the phone.”

Shaw dropped his room key on the table and sank onto the bed. “What bad news?”

“They’re pulling the op. Amy Crawford and the strike team are already wheels up and out of the country.”